Tagged: alarm

SimpliSafe is an American DIY home security system company that claims over 2 million customers. Their system relies on 433/315 MHz ISM band wireless radio communications between its various sensors, control panels and remote controls. Back in 2016 we already posted about research from Dr. Andrew Zonenberg and Micheal Ossmann who showed that the SimpliSafe wireless communications are unencrypted, and can easily be intercepted, decoded, and spoofed. SimpliSafe responded to those concerns by downplaying them and mentioning that sophisticated hardware was required.

Adam began with some initial manual RF analysis with an RTL-SDR, and then later worked with rtl_433 dev Christian Zuckschwerd to add PiWM demodulation capability, which is the modulation used by SimpliSafe systems. Now Adam is able to easily decode the serial number, pin codes, and status codes transmitted by SimpliSafe sensors and key pads in real time with just an RTL-SDR.

This is very concerning as not only could a burglar easily learn the alarm disarm pincode, but they could also profile your behavior to find an optimal time to break in. For example if you arm your alarm before bed, and disarm in the morning your sleep schedule is being broadcast. It is also possible to determine if a particular door or window has been left open. With a tuned Yagi antenna Adam was able to receive signals from 200+ feet (60m) in free space, and 115 feet (35m) through walls.

In addition to the lack of encryption, Adam also discovered that the SimpliSafe system was susceptible to jamming attacks, and that the tamper detection system can be easily compromised. Adam has disclosed all concerns and findings to SimpliSafe who are aware of the problems. They assure him that next generation systems will not suffer from these flaws. But unfortunately for current generation owners, the hardware will need to be eventually replaced as there is no over the air update capability.

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What is RTL-SDR

The RTL-SDR is an ultra cheap software defined radio based on DVB-T TV tuners with RTL2832U chips. The RTL-SDR can be used as a wide band radio scanner. It may interest ham radio enthusiasts, hardware hackers, tinkerers and anyone interested in RF.